Legislation -
Bill Sent To Committee
(Senate)
-
July 16, 2007

Legislation -
Bill Passed
(House)
(333-83) -
July 12, 2007(Key vote)

Vote Result

Yea Votes

Nay Votes

Vote to pass a bill that makes changes to the requirements, availability, funding, and use of the housing voucher program.

Highlights:

Requires biennial inspections of each assisted housing unit to make sure that the unit is maintained according to the required standards (Sec. 2).

Allows the public housing agency to establish a tenant rent structure that is based on the rental value of the unit and adjusted according to inflation, is tiered according to the income-level of the tenant, and calculates the rent based on a percentage of family income (Sec. 3).

Provides funding for any public housing agency that participates in the Moving to Work program or housing innovation program (Sec. 6).

Allows a public housing agency to provide a down-payment assistance grant not exceeding $10,000 instead of monthly assistance payments to aid in the purchase of a home (Sec. 8).

Creates the Housing Innovation Program to increase the housing opportunities for low-income families and provide financial incentives to families to obtain employment (Sec. 16).

Requires the Department of Housing and Urban Development to increase access for persons with limited English proficiency by developing a housing information resource center that provides translations of written materials and a toll-free customer service hotline (Sec. 18).

Appropriates as much funding as is necessary to assist 20,000 dwelling units each year for the fiscal years 2008 through 2012 (Sec. 20).